Building resilient industrial edge computing systems

As such, Smart manufacturing is driving a new wave of IT technologies into industrial spaces, which requires edge computing solutions that ensure privacy and data security, and address bandwidth requirements that have become crucial to operations.

Identifying the right type of edge application

For Industry 4.0, edge computing squares the circle between the benefits of the Cloud and on-premise infrastructure. The traditional drawback of the cloud has been high levels of latency or low response times, caused by the distance between the data centre supporting the cloud and the location of the application.

Edge computing offers the best of both worlds by shifting the data centre closer to the point of use, combining the benefits of Cloud Computing with the fast response times required by on-site IT equipment.

Applications that benefit from edge computing can, in general, be subdivided into three broad categories - each with their own specific designs and benefits. They include, IT facilities; Commercial and regional offices; and Industrial or harsh environments.

The latter comprises ruggedised data centres deployed in indoor or outdoor locations, where ambient environmental conditions are difficult to control. Challenges include a wide range of temperature or humidity conditions, water hazards, the presence of dust or other contaminants, and the need to protect computer systems from collisions and vibrations, as well as the obvious need for physical security to guard against unauthorised access.

What is the Industrial Edge?

For industrial operators to capture the benefits of increased automation, they cannot rely on cloud-technology alone. According to McKinsey, Industry 4.0 is a general term referring to the increased digitisation of the manufacturing sector driven by “the rise in data volumes, computational power and connectivity; ..analytics and business intelligence capabilities, new forms of human-machine interfaces [including] augmented reality systems; and improvements in … advanced robotics and 3-D printing.”1

Industrial edge data centres are IT infrastructure systems distributed across a number of geographical locations to enable endpoints on the network. When in industrial environments such as a manufacturing plant or distribution centre, this application is referred to as the “industrial edge.”

Given the increasing importance of computing to factory and industrial automation systems, it is inevitable that greater numbers of edge computing systems are going to be installed in these harsh and industrialised environments.

To achieve the shortest possible ROI and gain both the resiliency and speed demanded by AI, HD cameras and other Industry 4.0 technologies, manufacturers must properly measure asset performance, rapidly identify any problem areas, and make any crucial changes in real-time that will drastically improve their operations.

This is also where on-premise IT becomes critical and is where the majority of the data capture occurs. Industry 4.0 requires that computing systems are tightly integrated into the manufacturing process, but it also means that resilience and high availability become key design concerns for the accompanying edge infrastructure.

Building a resilient Industrial Edge

Downtime is the curse of any manufacturing operation and any integrated IT systems cannot afford to add to the risk of lost production. A 2016 study by Aberdeen Group, found that 82% of companies had experienced unplanned downtime in the previous three years, which could cost an average of $260,000 per hour! Industrial Edge systems, therefore, must be built to the highest standards of availability, if necessary, to Tier 3, which promises an uptime of 99.98% or an average of 1.58hr of downtime per year.

Tier 1 level data centres, with 99.67% uptime, for example, can be down for 28.82hr per year. In the example above, such a difference in downtime could cost in upwards of $7m per year! Clearly, an investment in improved uptime delivers clear benefits to the bottom line.

Given the noisy, industrialised environment in which many manufacturing operations take place, and the high level of potential contaminants, particular attention must be paid to the enclosures, which must remain robust to protect the IT equipment from downtime. Space is likely to be at a premium too, so care must be taken to ensure that the system can be deployed as flexibly as possible.

Ruggedised IT enclosures, made of durable materials such as stainless steel or aluminium and fitted with thermal insulation and robust cable fittings, provide optimum performance in harsh manufacturing environments. Some come in wall-mounted designs to make the best use of space, leaving the factory floor clear for manufacturing equipment.

Careful consideration of UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system design will safeguard against disruptions to mains power, while lithium-Ion (li-ion) batteries can provide an energy efficient backup source, which not only frees up more physical space because of their smaller size compared to VRLA cells, but offers users a longer operating life. They are also able to operate over a broader temperature range and offer ease of monitoring thanks to built-in sensors that can further help to reduce operating costs.

Cooling is essential for operational reliability in any IT environment. In industrial spaces, self-contained air conditioners can be fitted to ruggedised enclosures to regulate internal temperature and humidity without incurring the risk of environmental contamination.

No matter how reliable and rugged the hardware equipment is, the key to minimising downtime in any environment is continuous monitoring and management so that any faults can be proactively anticipated, or at worst, repaired and downtime rectified as soon as it occurs.

Software drives resiliency

To ensure high levels of resilience in industrial edge applications, software and security are crucial. The latter can take many forms including physical security to protect against unauthorised access on-site, as well as complex software systems offering advanced protection from cyber attack. For many operators though, the ability to leverage a software platform that brings together disparate systems including edge, building control and industrial process within a single pane glass of view, offers many benefits to the user, including end-to-end visibility.

At the edge, next-generation Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software leverages AI, data analytics, cloud and secure mobile applications to monitor the IT systems in real-time, enabling the user to quickly dispatch service personnel to respond to any concerns and mitigate downtime. The beauty of such management systems is that they can be used by third-party service organisations and partners to provide support where dedicated technical personnel aren’t located on site, thereby offering increased levels of resilience in smart manufacturing.

Today the growth of IT in industrial automation is driving new innovation that allows manufacturers to introduce new products more quickly and with greater reliability. This enables Industrial organisations to execute their business strategies more successfully, drive productivity and deliver improved services to their customers.

Data centre vendors are likewise innovating their products and services to minimise the risk of downtime in industrial environments, and as smart manufacturing increases via highly automated and technologically advanced systems, there is undoubtedly a need for resilient edge computing.

1 McKinsey https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/manufacturings-next-act 2 https://www.stratus.com/assets/aberdeen-maintaining-virtual-systems-uptime.pdf